As Gently Falling Sand
by The Lady of the Willows
Summary: The Sand Siblings are the remnants of a lost city and have just come to Konoha. They usually float from place to place. What changes? AU. TemariNeji
1. Chapter One: Children of the Desert

**As Gently Falling Sand**

Author's Note: This is an AU story focused primarily on Temari. I am posting this is to see how the audience will react. If I get enough feedback, I believe I shall continue.

* * *

**Chapter One: Children of the Desert**

Temari watched as Neji sat in the sitting area of the apartment she and her brothers shared. He had a difficult day training and had been somewhat injured when an enemy had shown up in the forest suddenly. Although he remained impassive in front of everyone else, he had no choice but to show her his injuries when they were in her apartment. His emotionless façade had not wavered as he stiffly sat down, but she could see that it caused him some pain.

"I will be fine," he assured her, pushing her hand away gently.

"Everyone says that," she remarked dryly, but left him to his own devices.

"I am merely…" he trailed off slightly and his brow crinkled as he sought the proper word. "Tired," he decided. "Injuries affect one more when one is tired. I will be fine. I think---"

He was going to stand up at that point, but the older female pushed him down. "If you do not care for yourself, I will have to do it for you."

It took a moment to steady his breathing, and then he resumed the same impassive façade as was normal for him. "What would happen without you?" he asked rhetorically as he eased himself into a comfortable lying down position.

"Your life would be far less complicated," she murmured almost inaudibly, but he seemed to have fallen asleep. The blonde female stepped out of the room to the outside area. The sun was setting in the sky, and she could see Kankuro and Gaara walking towards the building she was in. _"Is it our fault,"_ she thought to herself, _"to have caused so much trouble to many people?"_

It had begun almost a hundred years ago, when she was a child of nine. Suna had been a rich stop point in the desert, with exotic wares and powerful warriors. The once-humble town was then known as the Flower of the Desert, and so was targeted for raids by desert bandits. The Kazekage of Suna at the time had decided that they needed more powerful ninja to protect the trade routes and other such. The result was that he sealed a demon called Shukaku into his youngest son, Gaara.

The boy had grown under the shelter of his family until he was six, but the Kazekage and his advisors found it was difficult to control the boy. In an effort to eliminate the boy, they sent a man named Yashamaru to assassinate Gaara. The assassin failed miserably. Not only did he not achieve the goal, but also the demon within the young child was outraged enough to slaughter most of Suna. It had been a full moon that night and the shock of his uncle attempting to kill him caused Gaara to relinquish control over his body to the beast within.

After the massacre, the sands started falling over Suna, the Flower of the Desert, to hide it from view. The moon shone down on the blood-streaked buildings, which were starting to crumble under the weight of the sand. The only survivors were a few civilians who had fled and the Kazekage's children.

All of them, the few who had escaped the massacre of Suna, were condemned to wander under the moon as true children of the desert. The sand left Temari and her siblings outside of another desert town, and that was where she first realized how slowly they aged. They stayed there for three years and seemed to look the same as they had on the day of the massacre. The town could not understand why the three children were developing so slowly, so Temari privately joked that they were immortal to her siblings. In front of the outsiders, however, she was not as calm as she pretended to be when around her brothers. A few nights later, she gather her two brothers and left.

As they were walking through the desert that cold night, Kankuro wondered why they were leaving and said, "I do not understand."

Temari sighed, but did not stop. "I know, and I hope you will not have to." Although their bodies had stopped growing, their minds had not. Temari had the knowledge of a twelve-year-old and her understanding ability had been unusually high to begin with. "People are afraid of what they do not understand. We may need the protection of humans rather than that of desert at times, but there are other times when we must protect ourselves from humans. They could turn on us if they know what we are."

_"What we are…"_ What were they? They were the remnants of a dead age and the reminder of folly, though few could remember the Flower of the Desert. Most considered it a mystery, how Suna had suddenly disappeared on that one night of the full moon. Some said that Suna had been swallowed into the sands and some said that Suna had been magically transferred to another place. There were a few rumors that a demon had massacred everyone before consuming the entire area, but those were few.

"I thought they were our friends," said Kankuro, far wiser and more articulate than he should have been at his supposed age of eight. "Why would they do this?"

Gaara put a hand to the tattoo over his brow, tracing the "love" kanji. "Fear is a powerful feeling. Those who claim to love us will turn on us when they discover we are not like them."

The children discovered how true it could be.

* * *

Temari paced in a corridor of the hospital. Neji had gotten worse, and so had been sent to the hospital, though he protested. To everyone else, it seemed that the blonde female was only being overly concerned for her friend, who was slightly more than that. It was lucky that so much could be explained by her relationship with the Hyuuga. It was often unnecessary for her to explain too much about why she reacted in certain ways. The Hyuuga Clan was a secretive group, so others only comforted her and told her how strong the boy was. 

It somewhat annoyed her, but she took it all in stride. Against physical pain, he certainly was strong, but she was not quite sure of his mind. Telling him her secret was possible, but Kankuro had once done that, and they had been chased away very quickly. Unfortunately, the demon inside Gaara still did not take very well to being attacked, and it sufficed to say that town would have had a problem with getting enough men for patrols until they recruited more people. That had been approximately twenty-five years ago.

When the three had been wandered the desert for ten years after Suna disappeared, they had wondered what to do next. Staying away from other humans had gotten a bit irritating. If any of them were sighted, curious and sometimes well-meaning people would come to see who they were and why there were three children wandering the desert by themselves. It might have been easier to conceal themselves if they had split up, but the three needed each other.

Now with the knowledge of nineteen years, though still with a body of ten at most, she made plans of how they would be able to assimilate themselves into towns. "We should make friends with people when we move into human areas. Friends with enough standing to defend us if anything happens. And, we must be well-liked."

"I dislike people," said Gaara in a monotone. It was odd to hear the voice of a very young child speak the way he did.

"Well, do not let them hate you," remarked Temari. "Kankuro?"

Upon hearing his name, the older boy voiced his opinion. "I believe we should stay in the desert."

"Why?" wondered the girl.

"We can grow to become more powerful here. Just think about it… we have no need for food or water, and we are able to survive in the desert. We could spend out time training to become more powerful as we have for the last seven years."

So it was, that the three siblings spent another fifty years in the desert to learn things on their own. The outside world was dead to them, and to the outside world, the Flower of the Desert had become a mere legend rambled about by drunkards and fools. They discovered many things in the additional half a century spend in the sands. They looked to age only one year for every ten they lived, but could sense time the ordinary way. Their minds grew as fast as a normal human's even if their bodies were slow. Occasionally, someone would spot them. Gaara generally made quick work of anyone who could threaten their existence, as did Kankuro and Temari. They became known as the cursed children of the desert.

Sixty years after the fall of Suna, they began to live in towns. Before going, Temari, now with the appearance of fifteen-ish, instructed them on what to do. "When we enter a town, we are nomads from the desert. We wait and watch them. We grow a few relations while listening for rumors. We must establish close relations with respected people. Even if others dislike us, we can stay as long as we have someone powerful enough to defend our staying in the area." The three had finally gotten bored of living alone by themselves.

But the suggestions the eldest had made were merely possible ideas of youth. They did not consider the aggression of warriors, the competition of admirers, and the backstabbing of so-called friends. They had not expected to feel anything towards the outsiders they deceived. Relations were simpler to control when they were not involved with it, but Kankuro believed he had fallen in love with a kunoichi in one village and told her his secret. She attacked him immediately in disgust, and it had taken only a minute for Kankuro's puppets to kill the girl.

That incident destroyed any hopes the three had that any outsiders would accept them.

Naturally, they left that town after the occurrence. After a while of traveling through the desert areas, they decided to go see other parts of the world, but they always had to leave before the obviousness of how slowly they aged could come out.

"Temari?"

The interruption broke her train of thoughts, and she turned to look at the medic. It was another clear-eyed Hyuuga, but a female with dark blue hair. What was her name…

"He is all right, and I think you should go see him," suggested the Hyuuga girl timidly.

Temari sent her a thankful look and said, "Thank you, Hinata." The name had finally come to her. This female was the heiress to the Hyuuga Clan, one of the most ancient and noble clans in the town of Konoha, which was where they were. It was a valuable relation. Temari had sent Gaara to court the girl, realizing that his silence would be far more appealing to the shy heiress than Kankuro's brash flirtations.

"Neji," said Temari cheerfully. She was rather good at concealing her emotions after practicing how to keep them from her brothers for the many years in the desert.

"Temari," he replied.

"You made me a bit anxious," she remarked.

"I wonder who would attempt to kidnap you," he stated. It was a sort of question, nonetheless, which he expected her to have some response to.

She pretended not to understand and instead put a hand on his. "Get better soon."

* * *

"I am worried about Neji," admitted Hinata. 

Gaara stared at her unblinkingly and then realized that she expected him to say something. "I am worried about Temari," he said after a few moments, imitating her form of speaking. He had always been the most socially awkward of the three siblings.

"So am I," sighed the female. "Who would try to hurt a nice person like her?" She had thought the sand-girl uncommonly pretty, which was a fact noted by many others as well. Then, she had found her personality to be equally well, though there was a sort of cold calculation that seemed to be in all three of the Desert Children.

The red-haired boy wore an unreadable expression on his face as he dropped all emotions. He knew who might have attempted the action against his sister and why. Their extended lives were quite unusual, and many desired immortality, or, at the very least, prolonged lives. Someone might have finally discovered that there were true remnants of Suna still around, and that they had lived far longer than possible. As for Temari being a nice person--- she was not. None of them were. There were many dreams broken when they allowed them to be formed including them and then abandoned the area, along with friends or closer. Children who had considered them companions and yearmates were long dead from aging and had to see their friends disappear.

Temari stepped back into the corridor at that moment. Gaara silently excused himself and left to speak with his sister.

It was too risky to speak out loud in a shinobi village, so they formed some hand seals quickly for non-verbal communication.

_"Should I leave him now?"_ she asked in his mind. _"He is injured."_

Kankuro, from where he was, replied. _"He should be all right in a week." _

Gaara scowled at his older sister from where he stood next to her and said, _"Why are you so interested in him? You have never acted this way about leaving."_

There was a short pause as Temari and Gaara moved to a quieter area of the hospital to continue the mental conversation. Some people had sent them odd looks at their silent communication.

Temari spoke. _"Imagine staying here and making lives for ourselves. We are about the right age to look the same for a long while."_

_"Temari, they will grow old around us,"_ warned Gaara. The younger two were surprised that it was Temari who now suggested that they stay, after all her efforts in the past to protect them from outsiders with elaborate plans and back-up plans for surviving the way they had.

_"It is not fair if we continue to lie to those we meet,"_ whispered Temari.

Kankuro's tone was stern. _"You might break a few hearts, but you will at least save your own."_ There was a short pause and then he added, "Listen to me." Temari looked up in surprise to see the puppeteer standing in front of her as well. _"Do not think that you have feelings for him," _he growled desperately as he shook her shoulders.

_"And if I have?" _

The other two were now stunned rather than surprised. _"Temari!"_ shouted Gaara irately in their minds.

Kankuro signaled for the younger not to speak. _"You will see everyone dying around you. Is that what you wish? How do you think he or others would feel? We are not normal! We are cursed children of the desert, the last remnants of a dead, mythical city. You might find another like us to spent life with, but not him. It is too difficult. Outsiders do not accept us."_

There were only a few survivors from the Flower of the Desert, and the likelihood of finding another was rare. They had not met any so far, and it was possible that there were no others. Still, Temari could understand the memories of their pasts. She smiled wryly and shifted the fan on her back. The three passed themselves from town by claiming themselves as desert nomads now searching for something culturally valuable. The nomads were not kept track of as well, so it was simple to believe the tale. It was generally accepted, so it was allowed that the three would have some skill in fighting and carry the odd weapon and tool. None of them could show any of their real power in view of others for fear of seeming too suspicious, though.

Temari suddenly remembered something from long ago… a question her brothers asked her in the times they had depended on her for answers.

_"What are we?" asked Kankuro. Although only one of them had spoken so far, it was obvious that the two had come up with the question together. _

_She had taken a few moments to contemplate the question before replying. "We are… wanderers." _

_"Elaborate," demanded Gaara. _

_"We were denied admittance to any of the hells, so we roam the earth." _


	2. Chapter Two: What We Are

**Chapter Two: What We Are**

Author's Note: I noticed that I have most of this story written and only one chapter posted, so here is Chapter Two. It was written... a while ago.

* * *

When the Sand Siblings had come to the Gates of Konoha the first time, the patrol had looked at them cautiously. They were accustomed to this tenacious uneasiness and had given their usual story. All of them knew how to manipulate another's mind through use of a jutsu if a situation would require it, but doing such a thing was generally considered as last resort. Luckily, entry was permitted, and they went to inquire after lodgings first thing. There was no need to look for jobs, because the desert supplied them with any wealth they needed. Gaara could turn the sands, Temari could blow them away, and Kankuro could search with his puppets for lost jewels or gold which were buried. Those, in turn, could be sold for modern currency.

After finding a place of residence, they had visited the marketplace for rumors. From them, they heard of how an Uchiha Sasuke had left years ago and recently returned. They found out where the training fields were--- a valuable piece of information, as it was useful to train a bit at times. (Of course, they would have to trap up the perimeter of the field first to prevent intruders.) They discovered that the Hyuuga Clan was the most powerful clan in Konoha. After listening a bit more on how to identify Hyuuga's and learning that Hyuuga was a shinobi clan, they split up.

Gaara went to the training fields to supposedly find an empty one, but also to be on the look-out for choice people. Kankuro went to the bar to have some conversations with drunks for information. Temari headed over to the hospital to see if any volunteers were required, as the hospital was an invaluable place for gathering resources.

A while later, they met back up at their apartment and had all the information required.

The system they used was almost flawless and very efficient.

The next day, all of them knew what they were supposed to do. Gaara had to woo a female while Temari had to take the girl's protector away from the scene so that he could not interfere. Kankuro was free to do as he desired at the time.

The place to meet would be the training fields. They found Hyuuga Hinata with two others. When the team dispersed for lunch, Gaara approached his target and was successful. Temari found her target, a Hyuuga Neji, glaring at her brother and realized that this one would be a bit more difficult to succeed with. Luckily, her target seemed a bit older than the girl. She would have felt out-of-place trying to obtain relations with someone of Hinata's age. It took her longer to get into the seventeen-year-old Neji's good graces, but once she had, she found that he was the sort of person whose respect stayed. She needed to beat him in a spar, which she did after a long debate with herself about whether or not doing such a thing would draw unwanted attention.

But she had to occupy him in order for Gaara to spend enough time to enchant the Hyuuga heiress, so she did so. It seemed to all work out all right, though they later found that the heiress, Hinata, was considered unwanted and weak while her cousin, Neji, was considered Hyuuga's prize possession. Their work had been rather useless separately, but they continued with the relationships, recognizing the overall worth together. Later, it ended out quite well. Almost too well.

_"You need to keep up appearances,"_ stated Kankuro in her mind. _"It does not seem right if you avoid him while he is staying here, so visit him. But remember what we are."_

Temari nodded and said out loud, "Come with me, then?" It was more of an order than a request, and the younger two obeyed. They walked into the room to see Neji lying in the hospital bed. He was sleeping, and they left as quietly as they had come.

The blonde leaned against the wall rather helplessly when Kankuro had taken her back to their apartment. Gaara had to go see to his companion, the other Hyuuga, so he was still at the hospital. The puppeteer watched his sister, and both were silent. They could both see that Temari was in a state where she might cry. Crying was a dangerous thing to do for any of Desert Children, more so for the males who were still expected by society not to weep as much as female counterparts. There were few excuses for weeping. If an outsider discovered one of them doing this, they would have to create a good story to explain it or distance themselves by refusing to talk about it. As a result, they had all tempered themselves not to cry.

She thought about another memory.

_"How have you been doing?" Temari asked her brothers. _

_"My relation is growing," reported Gaara. "She is too caring and is impressed with my interest in her herbs." _

_"It seems that you have done well," remarked the blonde. She turned to her other brother, who was busy painting his face. "What about you, Kankuro?" _

_"There is woman who was an apprentice of the leader from one of the old villages we visited. The one with a snake-man. She is not interested in me, though." _

_Temari stiffened at the mention of Orochimaru, as it brought unpleasant remembrances to mind, but caught herself and shrugged lightly. "She has bad taste. Who else?" _

_"There are some younger, but the most interesting are older and uninterested or Gaara's appearance. There is one girl called Tenten who is a weapons expert, but she tends to have no interest in anything except weaponry. There is a person called Ino who runs the only flower shop around. There is also the village leader's apprentice, called Sakura, but she seems to be unusually interested in the Uchiha Sasuke we heard about earlier this week." _

_"Pick your potential relation as whoever you feel would help you with obtaining respect. You could do with a challenge," ordered Temari. _

_Kankuro nodded._

* * *

"Are you feeling better now?" Gaara asked Temari.

"Yes," she answered.

"You need to go see him soon," said Kankuro. "He asked what you meant by saying his life would be far less complicated, and I told him that you were just worrying."

"What did he think?"

"Hyuuga's are very stubborn. You know that. He did make you marry him, after all. Anyways, he tried to pry more from me, so I made him fall back asleep."

"You forced him to fall asleep?" gasped Temari, ignoring the implied insult that she had been forced to do something. She had certainly not been forced to marry him. In fact, they were barely married… it was more like an understanding called a marriage, since they lived in different areas and generally just spent more time together than before. He had insisted the wed since she had accidentally been absent from a party for a period of time while alone with him and unaccounted for anywhere, and, according to his family tradition, that would impede, or some word like that, on her honor. His family thought it was all right since he was only Branch family and Temari had beaten him before. Any children they had would be safely sealed.

"Just by using a basic jutsu."

The eldest of the three glared at Kankuro. "It does not matter how you did it. For him to coincidentally fall asleep just as he was pressing you for more information makes it seem like we are keeping something from him."

She sighed and left the apartment to visit the hospital again, only to find that he had been released. She headed for her apartment and found him waiting in the sitting area with her brothers. He was more than a bit annoyed that she had left him, but she tried to ignore it. Neji was usually a quiet person. However, when he did speak, he talked for a while. Temari could quite easily understand why Kankuro had felt it necessary to put her husband to sleep after a while.

"And if something is wrong, I can protect you," continued Neji. "I protect my cousin, Hinata, all the time--- mostly--- and I am your husband." The last part was said in a way that sounded like she ought tell him because of his position in her life. Temari looked at the Hyuuga with an incredulous expression for a while, rather annoyed at how deeply he was prying. "What is it?" he asked when he noticed her face.

She longed for either of her brothers to give her some advice, but all Hyuura's had almost complete three-hundred-sixty degree eyesight. If either of them were to make handseals for the jutsu that would permit telepathic talking, it might be noticed. This was the first time she had actually been married to a relation, and it had been a rather bad mistake. She felt some loyalty for an unidentifiable reason and almost believed that he ought know what he had married. "Neji," she said finally. "I have something to tell you." Behind the clear-eyed man, she could see her brothers both widen their eyes very slightly.

"Yes, Temari?" he replied, giving her all his attention.

"You see, Neji…" she trailed off and tried to recollect her thoughts. "I believe that…" The Hyuuga gave her a perplexed look, as he was unable to make sense of what she was saying. "People are---"

She suddenly discontinued her words and fairly ran out of the apartment. Neji looked at his brother-in-laws for an explanation, but they looked as confused and concerned as he did.

* * *

Temari waited for Hinata to come out of the room she was in. There was something she needed to ask the other girl. The sand female had not been feeling well and felt that there was more to it than she could see. In fact, she almost thought that she might be…

"Temari, are you all right?" gasped the Hyuuga heiress when she saw the older girl pacing in the corridor.

"I… yes… well, somewhat---" she stopped speaking abruptly to try and rethink what she would say.

"Yes?" prompted Hinata.

"I have not been feeling well recently and I thought it was merely nerves," said Temari finally. The blue-haired girl waited for the other to continue. "But I think it may be something more. I want you to make sure nothing is wrong with me. Or…"

The Hyuuga quickly started examining her friend. She was quite happy to help Temari and her brothers. It was as they had meant it to be.

A few minutes later, Neji, Kankuro, and Gaara came bursting into the room.

"Neji, you are supposed to be resting," scolded Hinata disapprovingly.

"I apologize," he said to his cousin. Then, he turned to Temari. "You almost told me something, and then you ran. If something is wrong, I need to know. You need to tell me."

Hinata lips curved upwards as she thought she realized what was wrong. "Temari just had to confirm it with me before she told you, I think. You see, she is---"

Temari interrupted. "I am pregnant."

"Our child," whispered Neji, half to himself. Kankuro leaned against the doorway, careful to hide any feelings that might show on his face. He had not expected this to happen, but then, none of them had ever gotten married. This advancement of events would certainly complicate things.

Gaara said at that point, "We need to take Temari out for celebration. We will return her to you later."

And so the three Desert Children left.

"Our child," Neji repeated again. He seemed to be in a daze.

"How wonderful," sighed Hinata dreamily, and she imagined having one of her own someday.

* * *

"Pregnant!" snorted Kankuro. "I know you wanted to stay, but to say something like that!"

"What were you thinking of?" put in Gaara.

"And in front of two outsiders!" added Kankuro.

Temari took down her fan and rapped it against the ground, as she used to when they were younger to gain their attention. The other two stopped their babbling. "I am pregnant. Hinata checked."

There was a short silence.

"Congratulations," said Gaara.

"That means I have to make sure you are all right all the time," sighed Kankuro.

"No, I…" started Temari.

The black-clad boy shook his head. "We need to make sure they grow healthily."

"We grow slowly."

"We will worry about it when it comes. We have spent our lives running for some purpose, but it is not worth loosing children for that."

Temari looked thoughtful. "Does this mean we will slow down? I can settle down with my child's father as outsiders do? We will no longer run after our purpose?"

Neither Kankuro nor Gaara wished to lie to their sister, but it was probably the only thing that would calm her other than changing the topic. "Tonight will be a full moon," commented the red-haired boy. "I will be out." The demon inside would demand blood. He would have to find some to sate it.

* * *

Temari returned to the hospital and then left with Neji and Hinata to their compound. A façade of calmness had slipped over her husband's face, and she felt it necessary to speak with him. She lay down beside him in his room and waited for him to initiate the conversation they would have.

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

"Indeed, why?"

"You sighed."

"I was thinking."

"Temari."

"Yes?"

"Why were you afraid to tell me?" She frowned inwardly and wondered why the Hyuuga Clan members had to be so good at reading a person. She should have remembered that. But this was the conversation she had come to have, because it was best that such be resolved now than later. She needed to explain why she had acted so strangely. What confused her, though, was the rather upset look on his face.

"What do you mean?" she countered.

"Running away to my cousin? I cannot understand it." He paused and then repeated the first question. "Why were you afraid to tell me?"

She tried to find a valid excuse. "I was nervous."

He seemed to examine her for signs of falsehood. "Was that all?"

"Why? What did you think?"

"Nothing," he replied levelly.

Temari frowned. She could tell that he was keeping something back. She thought about all the possibilities and then realized what he might be thinking. "You believe they are not yours?" she asked blandly.

"I did not say that!" he hissed at her.

"But you believe I was afraid to tell you because they are not yours?"

"No!" he retorted with a hint of concern. "I was wondering why you did not tell me, why you ran away, and why you were kept shielding yourself in with your brothers for a while, and then why you just told me something as simple as that. It makes little sense."

The blonde sighed and tried to explain without revealing what had to remain concealed. "Neji," she said solemnly. "I did not think it was possible. I did not think I could have children, especially with you. I did not know what was happening, so I was afraid to tell you."

There was a long pause. When he spoke, his voice was controlled, but she could sense confusion and a bit of anger. "You did not think you could have children, especially with me?"

She was rather worried about how she would explain that phrase which had accidentally slipped out without insulting him. She meant precisely what she had said. When speaking of children with her brothers, they had all assumed that their bodies no longer possessed that capability of procreation since they no longer had any need for food or drink. It was common knowledge that woman with children in the womb had to eat to provide nutrients for their babies. And even if she could, how was she compatible with one of those outsiders? There had to be something different about her genes… mayhap an extra set of chromosomes or similar. But she could not tell him that.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he growled, not bothering to keep his voice controlled, though still speaking in a low tone.

Temari swallowed as she realized what a quandary she was in. Both choices were undesirable, but he had to have an answer. She searched her years of knowledge for something to help her with explaining. "You are… the genius of your family…" she started slowly, "and I am just a desert wanderer. You come from the noblest family of your village, and mine has only remnants left in the desert. Your lineage is something you know about, and I cannot speak of my own." The last bit was whispered.

Her husband seemed to think about what she had said. "You believe that you are not worthy of me?" he asked finally. Temari smiled inwardly at having manipulated him into thinking what she wished without having to tell lies, though she recognized that she was generally the more straightforward type of person and that this might be considered abnormal behavior. "Did you think I would leave you?" he asked.

"Well…"

"I am just a member of the Branch House of my family. My birth might be lower than yours, and I would not leave you."

"Thank you."


End file.
